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Citation |
Klingmann C, Knauth M, Ries S, Tasman AJ. Arch. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 2004; 130(2): 221-225. |
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Affiliation |
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. christoph_klingmann@med.uni-heidelberg.de |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2004, American Medical Association) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
14967755 |
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Abstract |
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of scuba diving on the hearing threshold of sport divers who have no history of excessive noise exposure or of diving-related inner ear damage. DESIGN: Cross-sectional controlled comparison study. SETTING: General sports diving community. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty sport divers with an average of 650 dives each and at least 4 years of diving experience (mean, 10 years) were compared with a control group of 63 nondivers from our hospital staff or patients referred for rhinologic problems or benign tumors of the salivary gland. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: After microscopic otoscopy and tympanometry, we used pure-tone audiometry to measure the hearing threshold for air and bone conduction. The participants were divided into 3 age groups, and the hearing test results for both ears combined were statistically compared. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the hearing thresholds between sport divers and nondivers. CONCLUSIONS: The reduced hearing levels of professional divers found in other studies are probably due to the high noise levels that they have to deal with or may be a result of inner ear accidents. Language: en |